Page 43 of Unlikely to Stay
“It was.And the more I bounced, the angrier I became.On top of everything else, my mom quit trying to see me.Stopped showing up for visits.Stopped trying to get clean.There was literally no one in the world who wanted me.Until Betty.”
“Who’s Betty?”
“A little old black woman who lives in downtown Oklahoma City.They dropped me off at her doorstep when I was eleven.I hit my growth spurts early, so at eleven I was as tall as she was.”Brant laughed, remembering the first time he had met her.“Boy, was she spunky.When the social worker dropped me off at her house, Betty took one look at me and said, ‘Don’t you worry, Phyllis.I’ll get him in line.’Phyllis was my social worker.Phyllis had given me a look as if to say, ‘Good luck’ and then left.”
“Did you stay with her?”
“I did.When Phyllis left, Betty looked at me and said, ‘Boy, I can tell there’s good in you despite all that anger and blowing smoke you got bottled up inside.Just so you know, Miss Betty don’t give up on kids and I don’t plan on giving up on you.So the sooner you whip it into shape the easier it will be on both of us.’”
Colleen laughed a deep, throaty laugh that made Brant’s smile even wider.He loved listening to it.
“I didn’t shape up like she wanted me to.I fought her the entire time.Fought with other foster kids in her home.Fought with teachers.Fought with her.Itriedto get her to give up on me like everyone else had.But she never did.When I was fourteen, my mom’s parental rights were terminated.At that point, the state didn’t even know where she was.Betty adopted me and changed my last name from Anderson to Billings like hers.”He smiled.
“It was my choice.She asked if I wanted to stay Anderson since I was so old.But that was my old life.She was my mom and I was proud to take her name.But man, you should’ve seen the looks we got when she listed herself as my mom on things like physicals and school documents.She barely came to my shoulders and where her skin was smooth caramel, mine was lily white.We got all sorts of looks.”
Colleen smiled.At that exact moment, the sunlight broke through the trees and shone down onherhair, the strands sparkling in the light.Her cheeks were tinted pink from the warm air and she had a small bit of blueberry muffin in the corner of her lips.He had the sudden urge to kiss it off, which would probably go over like a lead balloon.So he leaned back on his elbows and stretched his legs out in front of him instead.
“Being with Betty was the first time in my life I felt accepted and loved for who I was.I didn’t feel broken anymore.”
That was the most he had talked about himself to anyone…ever.He didn’t know what sort of spell Colleen had woven on him but he found he didn’t mind it at all.
“That’s some story, Brant Billings.Makes me feel like my life at a hippie’s daughter was a walk in the park.I feel bad for complaining.”
Brant shrugged his shoulders.“Shit happens.We can’t compare each other’s life stories.Everyone is different.Everyone’s suffered some sort of trauma in their own way.I’m just glad I got out of the situation.Who knows what would have happened if I had stayed with my mom.”
“I’m glad, too.”
“Funny.I’ve never told anyone my story.You’re the first person to know.”
Colleen’s eyes widened.“Me?Why?”
“I don’t know.Maybe it’s the red hair.I told you I had a weakness for maraschino cherries.Maybe you should dye your hair a different color.That might shut me up.”